Paani Puri

The advantage of making puris at home is they are made in fresh oil and taste way better than the packet ones. Many a times people complaint about the pani

 puris becoming soft, mainly after cooling down. when I make them, the problem is because the dough was not kneaded well or the puris being too thick. Knead the dough well, the dough needs to have elasticity in it. 

Ingredients 

1 Cup Sooji/ Rava/ Semolina

1 Tbsp All purpose flour/ Maida

1 tsp Oil

Pinch of baking soda(optional) 

1/4 cup water

Oil for frying 

Procedure

In a bowl take the rava, add 1tsp oil and baking soda, mix well with fingers, now add all purpose flour, mix nicely, now add little quantities of water and keep mixing, until the dough turns elastic and there are no cracks. Keep sprinkling water and use your knuckles to knead properly till it turns Smooth, the dough should neither be too tight nor too soft. Cover it with a damp cloth and let it rest for about 20 minutes. Now uncover it and knead it once more, divide the dough into two or three parts. Take one part on your work surface and begin to roll. Avoid adding any dry flour while kneading. Keep the remaining parts of the dough covered with the damp cloth. keep on rolling the part to a thin and even round. The puris have to be thinly rolled. If not thin, the base becomes thick and remains soft even after frying. If the dough is not rolled evenly, then the Puris won’t puff up and turn into papdi, now using a cookie cutter or a small bowl, cut small to medium sized discs from the rolled out dough, this will help in getting even shape and size of the puris. Now heat oil for deep frying in a pan. The oil should be medium hot. Add a tiny piece of the dough ball in the hot oil. If the ball steadily comes up to the surface, the oil is hot and the puris can be fried now.

The puris will puff up as soon as you put them to the hot oil. Only add 4-6 puris at a time. Gently push the Puris with the frying ladle so that they puff up nicely, now flip them, once they puff up. Flip a couple of times, even after the oil stops sizzling, continue to fry the puris till light golden, keep them in the hot oil getting fried from both sides for a few seconds, so that they become crisp. Frying in this manner will make the puris more crisp from outside as well as inside. Else after getting cooled the might turn soft. Let them cool at room temperature, transfer them immediately to an airtight jar and close the lid tightly.